IMF revises economic growth forecast for Turkey

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised Turkey’s growth forecast for this year by 2.6 percentage points to 5.1 percent. The IMF released the October 2017 edition of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) Report under the title “Seeking Sustainable Growth.” Turkey’s growth expectancies for 2017 and 2018 were revised from 2.5 percent to 5.1 percent and from 3.3 percent to 3.5 percent, respectively.

The report, announced before the “IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings,” revised the global growth expectation to 3.6 percent for this year and 3.7 percent for next year, highlighting the cyclical recovery in the global economy. Growth estimates of the entity for 2017 and 2018 were set at 3.5 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, in the WEO report updated in July.

According to the report, even though the short-term risks in the world economy are decreasing, many countries are likely to be exposed to downside risks in the middle term, while low inflation in developed countries, financial turmoil in emerging market economies, more tightening in global financial conditions than expected and conservative policies can be counted among the aforementioned risks. In the IMF’s October 2017 WEO report, growth estimates for the U.S., Japan and many European countries were revised upwards.

In the report, which showed recovery in consumption and investments in the U.S. after a weak first quarter, growth forecasts for the country were revised from 2.1 percent to 2.2 percent this year, and from 2.1 percent to 2.3 percent for the next year.

The institution which raised the eurozone’s growth forecast for 2017 and 2018 by 0.2 percentage points to 2.1 percent and 1.9 percent respectively, also increased expectations for Germany, France, Italy and Spain. According to new projections, Germany will grow by 2 percent this year and 1.8 percent next year.